Concurrent panel presenters.

Beengul Ali Settlement Officer, Islamic Women’s Association of QLD Beengul came to Australia as a refugee 13 years ago from Turkey where she was brought up. Upon arrival in Australia she attended a special school for English literacy and after 6 months moved into a mainstream school and finished high school. Beengul studied a Bachelor of Criminal Justice and Criminology with a major in Psychology. She is currently studying part time for her masters. Beengul’s role as a Settlement Officer is to provide assistance to the newly arrived refugees that have been in Australia less than 5 years.

Sam Almaliki, Senior Manager Community Engagement, Cricket Australia Sam Almaliki is a cricket tragic and a passionate community leader. Sam has a personal interest in and a strong commitment to cricket’s role in the community as the soul of the Australian summer. As Senior Manager for Community Engagement with Cricket Australia he leads a team of Community Engagement Specialists responsible for engaging female, Indigenous, multicultural and disability communities and in turn ensure cricket is a sport for all Australians. Previously, he was the Community Engagement Leader at Cricket NSW. In this role Sam was the architect of the first multicultural engagement strategy in Australian Cricket “Mosaic Programs”. In implementing this strategy, Sam earned the respect of those within cricket and the wider sporting industry as a pioneering community engagement specialist – successfully developing and delivering strategically driven programs aimed at engaging the next generation of cricket players and fans. He is also an ardent advocate of Multiculturalism, previously advising the NSW Government on Multicultural Affairs as Commissioner on the NSW Community Relations Commission. He currently serves on the SBS Community Advisory Committee as well as being a Board Member of the Australia India Business Council-Victoria Chapter.

Christian Astourian, Chair, FECCA Disability Advisory Committee Christian was President of the Cerebral Palsy Support Network for 5 years where he created the Melbourne Longest Cake event in partnership with Crown Casino. He was a board member for Scope Victoria for 9 years. Christian currently works for the MRCNW coordinating the DnD self advocacy program for people with a disability from CALD backgrounds. He is also a consultant for TLConsultant to develop a planning tool for the NDIS. Christian is the chairperson for the FECCA Disability Committee, Vice Chairperson of Arts; Access Victoria, Board Member of the Victorian Government State Disability Service Board (with the Victorian Disability Service Commissioner), member of the Disability Reference Group within the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, committee member of the Melbourne City Council Disability Advisory Committee and Disability working group for Brimbank and Darebin councils in Victoria.

Santina Bertone Associate Dean (Research) and Professor of Diversity Management in the Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology Santina has researched in the area of immigration and work since the early 1990s, having won 50 external research grants and published on immigrant women, industrial restructuring, immigrants and trade unions and managing diversity (107 publications). She was a longstanding executive member of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, and has had other community and government board roles. Santina was awarded the Centenary of Federation Medal in 2008, and participated in the Australia 2020 Summit. Her current research focuses on employment barriers and success factors for skilled immigrants in the Victorian public sector, temporary immigrant workers, and professional development of university research supervisors.

Elizabeth Broderick Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth was appointed for a five year term as Sex Discrimination Commissioner in September 2007. She was also the Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination from September 2007 until July 2011. During her term, she has been committed to improving gender equality through her advocacy in preventing violence against women and sexual harassment, improving lifetime economic security for women, balancing paid work and unpaid caring responsibilities, promoting women’s representation in leadership and strengthening gender equality laws, monitoring and agencies. Elizabeth has been a key advocate for Australia’s national paid parental leave scheme, and domestic violence reform. She has championed the changes to the ASX Corporate Governance Principles to increase the number of women at decision making level. She has worked with the Australian Government to strengthen gender equality laws and agencies. Elizabeth represents Australia in the United Nations every year and has facilitated the attendance of marginalized Australian women as key advocates to address issues such as alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

has been involved in sports administration for over a decade, mainly with the AFL and Football (soccer). He is responsible for participation outcomes within football, working to create accessible opportunities for all. Before moving to FFA, Salv was General Manager of Game Development with Football Federation Victoria. In this role he managed the long term VicHealth project ‘United through Football’, which investigated multicultural community integration through the structured sports system.

Nadine Cohen Head of Government Strategy & Social Innovation, Netball Australia Nadine’s responsibilities focus on netball’s positive impact on the social, political, economic, education, wellbeing and health status of women and girls. Nadine has worked in the Australian sport sector for over 20 years, including 10 years at the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) in senior leadership roles. At the ASC, Nadine led the development of The Essence of Australian Sport ~ principles of fairness, respect, responsibility and safety; and was a member of the Play by the Rules Management Committee. Nadine is completing a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact at Melbourne Business School, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has completed post graduate studies at Deakin University and undergraduate studies at Swinburne University.

Helen ConwayDirector, Workplace Gender Equality Helen is the Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The Agency is an Australian Government statutory authority and key to the government’s efforts to improve gender equality in the workplace. Prior to joining the Agency, Helen spent about 30 years in the private sector. Following 10 years in private practice as a lawyer, including seven years as a partner, Helen joined the corporate sector where she held various executive positions in companies covering the insurance, transport, downstream oil, retailing and construction industries. In addition she has held various directorships in the health, transport and superannuation sectors. In 1992 Helen was the recipient of the first scholarship awarded by Chief Executive Women which enabled her to undertake studies at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and in 2005 was awarded the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association Corporate Lawyer of the Year. Helen has an established track record in the equal opportunity sphere focussing in particular on initiatives in support of women. She spent ten years on the NSW Equal Opportunity Tribunal including three years as its Senior Judicial Member. Helen’s appointment as Director of the Agency is for a period of five years commencing on 27 April 2011.

Dr Chris Davis, MP, Assistant Minister for Health and Member for StaffordDr Davis was formally employed at The Prince Charles Hospital where he was the Director of Geriatric Medicine. Chris is a past President of the Australian Medical Association Queensland and has a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Ms Judith Davis-Lee, Director of Engagement, The National Disability Insurance Scheme Launch Transition Agency Since June 2012, Judith Davis-Lee has been Director of Engagement with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), having previously managed implementation of the Commonwealth Government’s Better Start for Children with Disability initiative. Prior to joining the public service, Judith spent 10 years in the community sector working with a number of not-for-profit organisations including the Resolution Centre as a mediator and trainer, Barnardos as an adolescent foster care manager and Family Planning ACT, where she managed the sexuality and disability program. She has an adult son with disability. In her spare time she teaches and practices power yoga.

Maria Dimopoulos Managing Director, Myriad Consultants Maria is a leading international consultant specialising in social impact planning, research, and intersections of diversity and the law. She is an outstanding communicator and facilitator and possesses an extraordinary ability to captivate her audience. Maria possesses extensive experience in international policy formulation, government research and evaluation for social planning and community education. Maria has worked extensively with issues concerning violence against women and in 2008-09 served on the Federal Government’s National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. In 2011 she was appointed by the Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs to the government’s Access and Equity Inquiry Panel to conduct an inquiry into government services to ensure they are responsive to the needs of all Australians.

Anton Enus, Presenter, World News Australia Anton, a broadcast journalist with more than 25 years’ experience, has been presenting World News Australia bulletins since 1999. He began his career at the South African national broadcaster SABC as a radio news reporter. He moved on to become a parliamentary reporter, current affairs producer, TV news reporter and TV presenter, often anchoring the morning news show Good Morning South Africa. Anton was part of the team that covered South Africa’s historic return to democracy in 1994 and also filed stories from Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Uganda, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. He spent seven years as a correspondent for CNN World Report, a global news program, where he won Best International Report for his story marking the 25th anniversary of Chris Barnard’s pioneering heart transplant. He also won the SABC Bokmakierie Award for radio current affairs. Before leaving South Africa, Anton presented the major evening national news bulletin. After travelling overland through south-eastern Africa and backpacking across India, Anton arrived in Sydney. In addition to reading the 6.30pm World News Australia bulletin, Anton hosts special SBS news events such as Federal Election specials, and has hosted the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism several times. Anton became an Australian citizen in July 2002.

Dr Cassandra Goldie CEO, Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) Cassandra has an impressive track record as a successful reformer. Representing the community sector in major national public policy debates, including at the Prime Minister’s recent Economic Forum, the National Tax Forum and in the Superannuation Roundtable, her advocacy has helped achieve the major reduction of unfair tax breaks on superannuation in the last Federal Budget, and a range of progressive tax reforms. She has also played an important role across business, community, unions and in the media to build national consensus on the need to improve low paying income support payments, improving job prospects for people locked out of paid work, action to deal with Australia’s worsening housing affordability crisis, climate change, and reforms to promote a strong, independent civil society. Cassandra was also centrally involved in delivering historic gender equality reforms, including Australia’s first paid parental leave, pay equity and ASX corporate governance standards, as well as sexuality law reform. She has worked globally as a human rights advocate, including through the United Nations, the Commission on the Status of Women, and UN Habitat. She also has grassroots legal practice experience both as a legal aid lawyer, and as Director and Principal Solicitor of the Darwin Community Legal Service in the Northern Territory, which won the National Human Rights Award for Community Service during her leadership.

Todd Greenberg Head of Football at the National Rugby League (NRL) It is Todd’s responsibility to develop and lead Football strategy and operations across the whole of game. This includes leading and governing the NRL Elite competitions along with an oversight across Game development, Pathways and Participation. Prior to joining the NRL, Todd spent six years as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bulldogs Rugby League Club making him at the time, the youngest CEO in the National Rugby League. Leadership, team building, community engagement, cultural and brand transformation were the trademarks of his tenure at the Bulldogs. Todd is a strong advocate for elite athletes using their profile and reach within the broader community to enable positive change. This has been demonstrated in particular through partnerships with not for profit organisations like Camp Quality. In 2009, Todd won the prestigious NSW Sports Administrator of the Year Award and in 2011, was voted as one of ‘Sydney’s top 100 most influential people’ as part of the annual Sydney Morning Herald/Fairfax feature within The Sydney Magazine. Todd has been an Australia Day Ambassador since 2010, helping to promote the celebration of Australia Day at community events throughout NSW.

Carmel Guerra CEO, Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) CMY, founded by Carmel, was the first organisation in Australia to work exclusively with migrant and refugee young people, by providing services and advocating for the needs of these young people. Carmel has over 20 years experience in the sector and has long recognised the role of sport and recreation in assisting with the settlement of newly arrived young people. In 1994 Carmel was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate issues of migrant and refugee youth overseas. In 2003 she earned a Centenary Medal for services to young people, migrant and refugee communities and in 2005 was entered into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll for services to the community.

Dorothy Hisgrove General Manager People, Customer and Community AFL Dorothy’s portfolio includes human resources, fan development and engagement and community engagement including all AFL participation and diversity programs. She is responsible for people, culture and human resources roles within the AFL as well as broader club and community education programs, liaising with the AFL’s community club and development networks and leading the marketing function to get people to play the game, attend AFL matches and watch the game through all forms of media. Before joining AFL, Dorothy held the role of General Manager Culture & Communications at Australia Post leading several key functions; Employee Engagement, Business Communications, Stakeholder Management, Culture & Engagement and Diversity & Inclusion. Dorothy was instrumental in driving improvements in the engagement of the workforce throughout a period of significant change and business transformation. Prior to joining Australia Post, Dorothy held the role of General Manager People Engagement & Change for the National Australia Bank Group (NAB) with responsibility for culture transformation, people engagement, diversity and inclusion. Dorothy has also previously been the Group Head of Communications at NAB responsible for Corporate Communications. She also led the Customer Value Propositions team in the Retail Bank where she established the foundations for the SMB segment. Dorothy holds a Bachelor of Business with a major in Marketing and Post Graduation qualifications in Marketing.

Dr Jackie Huggins AM FAHA Jackie is a former member for the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and former Co-Chair for Reconciliation Australia.She is involved with many social issues for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and is Spokesperson for Recognise. This organisation is promoting the recognition of Indigenous peoples in the Constitution.

Gerardine (Ged) Kearney President, ACTU Ged commenced as ACTU President on 1 July 2010, and is the third woman to hold the position. Prior to this Ged was the Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation from April 2008 and had been an elected official with the ANF since 1997. Ged believes that unions should not just be concerned with the experience of people at work but they should be advocates for change to improve all aspects of Australians lives. Ged’s ambition as ACTU President is to build respect from political leaders and the broad community for the values of fairness and the role played by unions in delivering social change.

Gail Ker OAM CEO, Access Community Services Ltd Ms Gail Ker has a Bachelor of Adult and Vocational Teaching (BAVT) with double majors in Technical Studies and Human Resource Development. She has worked at ACCESS Community Services for over 21 years and has been the CEO for the past 10 years. Ms Ker’s experience in providing innovative service solutions for newly arrived entrants and migrants has been recognised nationally and she has been appointed to the following boards and positions: Vice Chair, Regional Development Australia (RDA), Logan and Redlands Inc., Deputy Chair, Migration Council of Australia (MCA), Deputy Chair – Australian Multicultural Council (AMC), Chair – NAATI Professional Reference Group.

Pino Migliorino Chair, FECCA Pino was born in Bari, Italy in 1959 and migrated with my family to Australia through an assisted passage program in 1964 to reunite with an extended family who had arrived in Australia in the late 1950s. After over 30 years of ethnic community involvement and working in multicultural affairs across three sectors Pino was elected Chairperson on FECCA (The Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia) in October 2009. Pino is passionate about multicultural affairs and social justice and provides an informed and representative voice for FECCA in advocating for the needs and interest of our diverse cultural, linguistic and religious communities. 19 years Pino founded and still leads Cultural Perspectives and CIRCA Research which are sector leaders in researching and communicating with CALD and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia. Prior to working in the private sector, Pino held important positions in the third sector and in government including Executive Officer of the ECC of NSW, NSW Regional Coordinator for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Senior Conciliator at the HREOC and Principal Policy Officer of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of NSW. Pino has completed major research work in the social services area including work on alcohol and other drugs, ageing, dementia, family violence, refugee settlement, as well as work for arts and cultural institutions and environmental issues. Pino retains a deep knowledge and strong experience of culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia, and is a leading expert in this field.

Cedric Manen CEO, Migrant Resource Centre (Southern Tasmania) Cedric has been the CEO of the Migrant Resource Centre (Southern Tasmania) Inc. since April 2007, working with refugees and migrants in the areas of settlement, aged care, employment, youth and community development. Prior to this, Cedric had 25 years of experience in corporate development and has lived travelled and worked in 43 countries spanning five continents. Cedric has completed post graduate studies at London Business School, undergraduate studies at Newcastle University, NSW and Sydney University of Technology. From 2008-2011 Cedric held the position of Chairperson of the Mental Health Council of Tasmania, the state peak body representing the mental health sector. Cedric has been the Chair of the Settlement Council of Australia since 2010 working alongside Federal Government ministers and stakeholders in improving settlement outcomes for people of migrant and refugee backgrounds . Cedric is one of five Australians on the SBS Community Advisory Committee. Cedric was awarded the 2010 Tasmanian Public and Community Sector Manager of the Year Award at the Tasmanian Business Leader Awards, in recognition of his significant community sector management achievements. In July 2012, Cedric was part of the Australian delegation to the Annual Tripartite Consultation on Resettlement at the United Nations in Geneva, which is the primary international forum for dialogue and planning on resettlement of refugees.

Abeselom Nega CEO, iEmpowerAbeselom was the founding Chair of the Federation of African Communities Council of Australia (FACCA) -the peak African community organisation in Australia. He was an Executive Committee Member of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia and the Chair of the New and Emerging Communities Network. He has served on various Ministerial advisory bodies both at State and Commonwealth Governments levels and has served as a senior executive in both the public and sectors.Abeselom is currently a Board member of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators Interpreters and the Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee of the Victorian Equal Opportunities and Human Rights Commission and he is the current Chair of the Melbourne Employment Forum (MEF).Abeselom is interested in facilitating meaningful opportunities for young people from disadvantaged background through partnerships with the public, private and community sector based organisations.

Emad Nimri Project Manager, Gold Coast Supporting Older people from CALD backgrounds Project (MCCGC) Emad was born in Jordan and immigrated to Australia in the early 1970’s with his parents and two sisters. Through this experience, Emad gained an understanding of the settlement issues and processes that confront migrants in Australia and developed a profound interest and commitment toward enhancing social justice and empowerment for migrants in the Australian community. Emad has worked in the social services sector since 1984, during which his major focus has been on cultural diversity and social change. He has held a diverse number of senior positions in government agencies in NSW and Queensland and spent many years working in the non-government sector in service provision and program management including Migrant Settlement services, Mental Health Services and Transcultural Mental Health, Youth Affairs and Children’s Services. In 1995, he established NIMCOM Project Management and Development (PMD) and over the past eight years, has managed a number of service development and research projects in the aged care sector. He is a both a service provider and researcher and is currently undertaking PhD research on Social isolation, culture and aged care service provision. He is also an educator and has provided numerous intercultural effectiveness workshops to over 3,000 aged care staff in the Gold Coast region.

Mary Patetsos Chair, FECCA’s Healthy Ageing Reference Committee Mary has a rare blend of academic qualifications and employment experiences covering economic, infrastructure and social policy areas. She is a member of the Multicultural Council of SA and Chair of FECCA’s Healthy Ageing Reference Committee. Her current positions demand high levels of expertise and competence in all these policy areas as well as essential skills in auditing and financial modelling, particularly in Aged Care and Housing. Importantly, she has extensive practical experience with private, government and community sectors, including managing cultural diversity and working with indigenous communities. Mary’s current positions enable her to have extensive knowledge of the economic, infrastructure and social needs of South Australia. As Chair of the South Australian Local Government Grants Commission, she has to address fundamental infrastructure needs of Local Government across the state including those areas covered by the Outback Areas Community Development Trust and the five Aboriginal Councils.

Glenn Rees CEO, Alzheimer’s Australia Glenn has worked at senior levels in the British and Australian Public Services. In Britain he worked as Private Secretary to senior Ministers, in the Cabinet Office and in Economic Departments. In Australia since 1976 he has worked in program and policy areas including Prime Minister and Cabinet, Employment and Training, Aged Care, Disabilities, Housing and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. He was Chair of the Nursing Homes and Hostels Review in 1986 and was involved in implementing the first wave of aged care reforms. He has been CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia since 2000 during which time the Dementia Initiative was implemented in 2005 and important commitments made to tackle dementia in the 2012 Living Longer Living Better package. He is an active member of the National Aged Care Alliance and has been a member of many Ministerial and official advisory committees on aged care.

Neville Roach AO Australian Government’s Advisory Panel on Positive Ageing Neville is a member of the Australian Government’s Advisory Panel on Positive Ageing (APPA). His special focus areas in APPA are Ageing issues affecting CALD communities and the use of ICT by older Australians. Neville is a former Chairman of the Council for Multicultural Australia and of the Business (Migration) Advisory Panel. He is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board in Australia and New Zealand for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT company. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2000 for his contribution to business, especially the IT industry, and to the development of Australian Multiculturalism.

Violet Roumeliotis CEO, Settlement Services International Violet has an extensive background in advocating for and developing services for vulnerable and at risk communities and individuals with more than thirty years’ involvement, in both a professional and voluntary capacity, in human resource and project management. In particular, she has developed specialized knowledge and skills in working with people of a non-English speaking backgrounds and culturally diverse communities, refugees and humanitarian entrants, families in crisis, women and children at risk. Her special areas of expertise is in the non-government sector includes building the capacity of small and emerging communities, leadership skills development, women at risk, prisoners, youth mentoring, and cultural diversity training. Violet is the current Chair of the Sydney Alliance and a member of its Leaders Council and current Chair of the South West Sydney Legal Centre. She is also the Settlement Council of Australia.

Peter Scanlon Chair, Migration Council Australia Peter is the Chair of the Scanlon Foundation. The Foundations primary focus is fostering social cohesion. The foundation funds a range of activities, including social survey research into attitudes to migration and projects to promote the participation of new migrants. Mr Scanlon is the Chair of the Migration Council Australia and a Director of the Grattan Institute. The Migration Council Australia (MCA) is an independent non-partisan not-for-profit body established to enhance the productive benefits of Australia’s migration and humanitarian programs. The Grattan Institute is an independent think tank dedicated to developing high quality public policy for Australia. Mr Scanlon is also the Chair and founder of Taverners Group. He has held numerous board positions in public companies, including Director and Chair of Patrick Corporation (1991 – 2007). Chair of Wormald International (1993 – 1995) and Deputy Chair of AFP Corporation (1989 -1998). He was an AFL Commissioner (1984 – 1993). He was Chairman of the TAB from 1993 to 1995, setting up the transition from public to private ownership.

Catherine Scarth Chief Executive Officer, AMES Catherine Scarth has over 20 years’ experience in designing, implementing and evaluating a wide range of innovative social programs and enterprises in Australia and Great Britain. Catherine spent 15 years at the Brotherhood of St Laurence driving development and delivery of a number of innovative community services and social enterprises before joining AMES as General Manager of Community and Policy driving partnerships with employers, government and the community sector. She was instrumental in establishing AMES Research and Policy Unit before being appointed CEO in September 2011. Ms Scarth is a founding board member of Social Traders and the recently formed Migration Council of Australia.

Tony Shepherd AO President, Business Council of Australia Tony was elected President of BCA in November 2011. Tony has been Chairman of listed company Transfield Services since 2005. Transfield Services provides services to the resources, infrastructure, industrial, property and defence sectors. His executive career with Transfield was extensive, beginning in 1979. It spanned divisional and regional responsibilities and senior executive roles, particularly in major projects development. He pioneered private sector development and ownership of infrastructure in Australia. Tony oversaw the public listing of Transfield Services Limited (finalised in 2001) as well as the listings of Transurban Limited and the ConnectEast Group. He is a Director of Virgin Australia International Holdings Pty Ltd, Deputy Chairman of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, Chairman of the new AFL Club the GWS Giants, an adviser to the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Chairman Elect of ASTRA. He is a Director of the recently formed Migration Council Australia, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Patron of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. Tony has been involved in some of Australia’s most significant projects including the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, the Anzac Warships, Melbourne’s CityLink, the EastLink Toll Road in Victoria, the Walsh Bay Redevelopment and the Victorian Desalination Project. In June 2012 Tony was named as an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Professor Peter Shergold ACHead of the Aged Care Reform Council Peter Shergold came to Australia in 1972 as an academic. In 1988, having been the Honorary Consultant to FECCA, he joined the Australian Public Service to establish the Office of Multicultural Affairs and then became CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. After a distinguished public service career he was appointed as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2003-2008. Peteris the Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney and now serves on the Boards of a wide range of private, public and not-for-profit companies including as Chair of the Commonwealth’s Aged Care Reform Implementation Council.

Judge Rauf Soulio Chair, Australian Multicultural Council Judge Soulio is Chair of the Australian Multicultural Council. In that role he is also a member of the National Anti-Racism Partnership and was a member of the Access and Equity Inquiry Panel which reported to Government in 2012 on the accessibility of government services to multicultural Australia. He is also a member of the Aged Care Reform Implementation Council. Judge Soulio is the current Chair of the Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia and is on the Judging Panel of the Migration Council Awards and the Governor’s Multicultural Awards programs. In 2003, he was appointed as Honorary Consul-General for Albania in Australia. Judge Soulio was the Deputy Chair of the Australian Multicultural Advisory Council until June 2011.

Lisa Sthalekar Retired Cricketer Lisa is a recently retired female cricketer who represented New South Wales and the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars. Among a list of many career highlights, Lisa was the first female cricketer to take 100 wickets and make 1000 runs in one day internationals (ODI’s), won dual Belinda Clark Awards as Australia’s best international female cricketer in 2007 & 2008, and was rated the number one female all-rounder in the world. She played a big part in the Southern Stars ODI World Cup triumphs in 2005 & 2013 as well as the T20 World Cup in 2010 and 2012. Lisa’s career spanned 8 Tests, 125 ODI’s and 54 T20 matches. Lisa was born in Poona, India and moved to Australia when she was four taking up the game after developing a love of playing cricket in the backyard with her Dad. She is currently the Youth Programs Manager- Female at Cricket NSW inspiring the next generation of female cricketing heroes from all backgrounds.

Grant Tidswell, Deputy Secretary, Service Delivery Operations, Department of Human Services Mr Tidswell is the Deputy Secretary, Service Delivery Operations, for the Department of Human Services. The Department is the Australian Government’s premier delivery agency incorporating the former separate agencies of Centrelink, Child Support Agency, CRS Australia and Medicare Australia into one Department. The Department of Human Services is responsible for providing payments and services to almost all Australians, administers one third of all Australian Government outlays and accounts for approximately 25 per cent of the Australian Public Service. In the role of Deputy Secretary of Service Delivery Operations, Grant is responsible for ensuring the ongoing effective operations of over 400 branch outlets, 26 call centres and all processing teams across the country. A particular focus is on identifying areas for improvement and enhancement to meet government requirements and exceed customer expectations. Grant is also responsible for the continuing development of a comprehensive remote servicing capability and emergency management capacity to ensure delivery of timely and focused services to customers in difficult circumstances. For his work, in response to the Victorian Bushfire crisis, Mr Tidswell was the recipient of the Public Service Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2010.

Dr Casta Tungaraza President, African Women’s Council of Australia (AWCoA) Recently inducted in the WA Women’s Hall of Fame, Dr Casta Tungaraza is the Gender Equity, Diversity and Social Justice Manager at Murdoch University. Casta is also the inaugural President of the African Women’s Council of Australia (AWCoA), and the Tanzania’s Tourism Goodwill Ambassador in Australia. In 2006 she founded Miss Africa Perth, a mentoring program for young African girls in Australia. Her aim was to harness the cumulative energies of African girls and support their positive transformation in society. Using the community participatory approach, Miss Africa Perth has been shaped by participants and evolved into one of the most effective Young African Women’s Leadership Development Programs that creates African Youth Ambassadors each year. Dr Tungaraza is a recipient of the WA Multicultural Services Award and a finalist for the Murdoch University’s Most Distinguished alumni. In 2012 she was recognised for her community contribution and received the national Living Legend and Most Influential African in Australia Awards. Casta is a member of the WA Government’s Multicultural Advisory Group, and the Federal Government’s African Ministerial Council of Australia.

Ricardo V. Viana President, Multicultural Communities Council Gold Coast Ricardo is an Australian Lawyer. He is also a former Judge and Dean of Law in his native El Salvador, Central America. He remains in the roll of Lawyers and Notary Public of El Salvador Supreme Court. Upon arrival with his Family in Brisbane, he studied English and Law at the Queensland University of Technology, and graduated with a Master of Laws degree in 1995. Ricardo also studied law at the University of New England and the College of Law both in New South Wales.Ricardo has been admitted to practice law in Queensland, New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. His areas of practice include Commercial, Litigation, Estates, Administrative and Migration law. He is also a registered Migration Agent with over 18 years of extensive expertise in all visa classes and appeals to specialised Tribunals. He currently is the Law Practice Director of ALC Pty. Ltd T/A Viana lawyers. Ricardo is an active member of various local and national organisations. He is the current President of the Multicultural Communities Council Gold Coast Inc. The Regional Chair of the Federation of Ethnic Communities of Australia (FECCA), and member of the National Multicultural Advisory Group (NMAG). In recognition of his long and selfless contribution to the Multicultural communities in Queensland he was awarded Highly Commended Outstanding Volunteer at the Queensland Multicultural Awards 2011. www.mccgc.com.au/news